Microsoft banks on regulations to build a mobile games store

techcrunch.com:

Apple and Google have had a stronghold on mobile app distribution through their app stores for a long time now, especially for games. And while Google’s Android lets users install games and apps from outside the Play Store, these alternative app stores have failed to offer significant competition.

To break this duopoly, Microsoft is now preparing to build its own mobile games store, and the company is banking on upcoming regulations to pull that off.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Microsoft’s gaming head Phil Spencer said that the EU’s Digital Market Act (DMA), which will go into effect next March, will help the company fulfill its mobile app store ambitions. The DMA will allow companies to load their app stores on Apple and Android devices by asking Apple and Google to open up their ecosystems.

“We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want to play,” Spencer told FT. “Today, we can’t do that on mobile devices, but we want to build towards a world that we think will be coming where those devices are opened up.”

Microsoft has had a difficult time creating the user experience it wants with its Cloud Gaming app on Apple devices because the iPhone maker required users to download each game available to play on Microsoft’s cloud offering, including Fortnite. So Microsoft now asks people to sign in through Safari and follow instructions, which are not as easy as downloading an app from the App Store.

Microsoft’s efforts to build its own app store for games is not surprising given Apple’s restrictions around downloads and in-app purchases on its devices.

Apple and Google didn’t immediately respond to requests for comments.

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